Mirror
by JoeMerl
Summary: Verminous Skumm sees something very ugly when he looks in the mirror. Not what you might think, though. One-shot. Rated T for language.


I see something very ugly when I look in the mirror every morning.

Oh, you think I'm talking about my face, do ya? The long, crooked nose, the hair all over, the small yellow eyes under big, bushy brows? You know, the so-called "ugly things," the _only _things about me that you humans ever see, ever _bothered_ _trying _to see? Yeah, you _would _think that, wouldn't you? It'd never occur to you that maybe it's the opposite, would it, that maybe it's the supposedly _human_ parts of me that I'd like to get rid of, so I wouldn't have to bear even a passing resemblance to you and your disgusting, small-minded little race?

But that's not what I'm talking about, either. I'm happy with what I am, even if _you_ never have been, and even if being this way means I have to deal with having "man" affixed to my noble "rat" title. Because there's something else I see in that dirty, spotted mirror hanging on my slimy sewer wall, something _truly_ ugly that I _truly_ despise.

_You._

All of you, you humans. Every human face that's ever looked at me, that's ever sneered at me, screamed at me, retched at the sight of me, mothers hiding their children when I walked by, men chasing me out of stores and homeless shelters, _all_ the twisted and distorted hatred that humanity's ever directed at me over the decades.

Do you ever stop and look at that, how your faces look when you're glaring at something that completely disgusts you? Something that you think of as a piece of crap, even if it's a person who can move and think and talk just like you?

_Hmph. _And you think _I'm_ ugly.

Yeah, I make you sick, don't I? Well, the feeling's mutual, make no mistake. And what makes it worse is that you're all a bunch of filthy hypocrites. The way you all talk, about _peace_ and _brotherhood, understanding _and _love---_it all just sounds lovely, doesn't it? Makes you feel good, repeating all those lies? You don't even have any of those phony feelings for each other, let alone any other creatures. You're all a bunch of nasty, _hateful _little animals, _lying_ to yourselves constantly just to hide what kind of monsters you really are, even from yourselves.

I think those Planeteers are the worst of it. They go around, playing the heroes, the perfect little poster children for affirmative action, talking about how people need to put aside hatred and love each other regardless of what they look like or what countries they're from or what god they worship and all of that jazz, and then they get mad at _me_ for punching holes in the lies they're telling, acting all indignant. They act like I'm some monster for hating humanity, but they never stop to question _why_ that might be. When an Arab wants to nuke the Israelis, and an Israeli wants to nuke the Arabs, oh, it's because they've both had hard lives, both have had bad experiences with each other, blah blah blah. Apparently it never occurred to them that having to live in a _fucking sewer_ might not have been the kind of lifestyle to endear _me _to humanity. I guess they think I cover my face up there just for the heck of it, eh?

They say all people are important. They say all animals are important. Well, I'm a little of both, and am _I _important? Pfft, no. Ew, he's ugly, he's creepy, what a freak. Same crap I've been hearing since the day I was born. They're in the mirror, too, those Planet-punks, as clear or clearer than anybody else.

You humans. Yeah, I hate you all. But only because _you_ took the time to show _me _hatred first.

See, that's the cruel little karma that you smooth-skin bastards want to ignore. You think we're nasty just for the heck of it, don'tcha? It's in our natures. Oh, I'm a _rat!_ Of course I'm gonna be bad, 'cause, you know, there's nothing weird about hating _them_ while you're preaching about how every _other_ little hairball needs to be saved from extinction. But rats are just Bad, so it's okay. Verminous is a rat, so no wonder he's like that. Can't overcome what's in the blood, keep them mutants in the field 'afore they get too uppity, right? Poke the rat all you want, of course when it bites back that's just it's own nasty nature, couldn't _possibly_ be something you might actually _deserve._

_That's_ the painful truth you all don't want to face. I'm not some horrible monster. I'm just a mirror. That's right---you want to throw some hate at me? Fine---I'll reflect it right back at you. I don't _spread_ hate, you know, any more than a piece of glass spreads light. I just bounce it back at you, but I make it _stronger, _more _focused,_ a neat little beam aimed to start a flame. Those are my favorite schemes, you know, the ones where I only have to use the tools that you give me. You can call me bad for feeding off racial hatred, but were those people bad when they made it so easy for me to do it? Am I the bad guy for trying to get that AIDS kid lynched, or should you maybe stop and consider that the _lynchers_ made have been the true villains after all? Mirrors always show the truth you know, that's what the old legends say. Put up your illusions, it won't work---the mirror will show what you _really_ are, underneath that lying, happy façade.

'Cause in the end, you know, that's the funny thing---I'm don't think I'm even any more hateful than you are, I just get more to throw on back. I'm just showing you my mirror, and all those nasty human faces sneering out along with my own.

Aw, what's the matter, humans? Don't like it? _Pfft._

I'm just glad _I _don't have to look at such an ugly reflection.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Seriously. I can't be the _only_ one who's ever considered Verminous as the Woobie on this show, can I? I mean, the possibilities are so obvious.

And this fic wound up sounding a lot like my Zarm-based story, "Consistency." Feel free to look that up if you liked this. ;-) And whatever your feelings, please feel free to tell me about it in a review!


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